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the ultimate answer on solder vs crimp


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Actually skittles, one is better. If you cannot solder, then crimping is better, especially with that hydraulic crimper! :P I cannot solder, so spending the what? $30 for the hydraulic crimper and these lugs http://www.amazon.com/Gauge-Inch-Copper-Cable-Lugs/dp/B00776MK1M you never have to worry if your connection is good enough. Oh and using those type of lugs fits in that crimper.

Great write up! I always wondered how soldered looked. I just always though crimping would fuse the wire/ lug connection better. :)

Thanks!

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This is a great post. I love getting these good explanations. I typically solder large wire and crimp small wire. Like steve said, soldering allows them to be removed which has helped me a few times.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The hammer crimp tools suck and do a piss poor job.

Those heavy duty lugs are made for a/c electrical, they will work ok in car audio (similar to how you put wire in an amp terminal), but they are very bulky in size, and the piece that you would bolt to the battery is very thick (so if your using a few of them, your going to run into a issue with the battery bolts being too short, and even be a challenge trying to get multiple terminals on 1 bolt due to their bulky size).

 

 

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I use a hammer and cement, works great for large wires, sucks for small wires when adding ring terminals.

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I use a hammer and cement, works great for large wires, sucks for small wires when adding ring terminals.

Lolwut?

Edit: Hurdurr, you mean the ground. I'm slow tonight..

Anyways: I would advise against doing that. Remember: It's about a good electrical connection, not just squishing it so the wire kind of stays in place if there isn't any significant pressure on it. I bet you can wiggle those for a few seconds and give it a firm tug and the wire would pop out.

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hmm.. ive always soldered small wires and crimped big wires, just becuase of not having a torch to solder with, and its good to know that ive been doing it right this whole time haha

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ive always soldered large wire because i assumed it would be a better connection than a crimp but seeing how solid that crimp looks when cut in half I may just buy a crimper, it would save alot of time. Thanks Skittles!

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  • 3 years later...

i set the lug into a vise. fill it with solder. biol the solder and keep it boiling while i slowly dip the cable into the lug. once the cable is entirely inserted with the solder still in a full liquid state i keep it like that for about 15 sec to allow the liquid solder to truly bond to all materials. then i remove the heat source and hold the cable in place until the solder has cooled enough to start turning solid. at first this method was a bit messy. i have now done it enough to perfect my skill that 99% of all connections come out perfect. once the lug and cable have cooled i place a small amount of dielectric grease between the lug and the wire insulation. then i apply heat shrink over the work area protecting everything for any elements.

as for torch, iron so forth sizes, i have 3 sizes of iron and 4 torches. there really is no 1 size fits all. it really just depends on the amount of heat required for the material used. environmental conditions drastically effect the work outcome to. a 1/0 cable will not solder as fast or easy in 20f as it would in 95f temps. rain or clear doesnt really seem to be to much of a factor so long as the work being done stays dry.

if done properly a standard crimp will never be as good as solder. the only way that a crimp will compare is if it is crimped so tightly that it actually begins to cold forge. some bigger hyd crimpers can supply enough pressure to do such. although for it to forge properly both the wire and the lug need to be like materials.

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